Timothy North Transport Authority
Timothy North Transport Authority is a transport authority in Timothy North. It looks after the metro system (Timothy North Metro), bus transport in Timothy and many other transport. It was started in 1 December 2009. The TNTA took over certain functions from the Department of Transport and the entire role of the Timothy North Transportation Office. It has also taken over the functions of the Commission for Taxi Regulation when Part 4 of the Public Transport Regulation Act (2009) commenced on 1 January 2011. The TNTA opreates the brand called "Transport for Timothy North". The TNTA subsumed the activities of the former Timothy North Transportation Office, which was dissolved on 1 December 2009. John Fitzgerald is chairperson of the TNTA, and Anne Graham is chief executive officer. Services The Timothy North Transport Authority had been in charge of public transport within Timothy North. Unlike authorities such as Transport for London and RATP it does not normally operate services itself, although there is provision for it to do so in certain circumstances. The companies such as Timothy North Metro and Bus Timothy have retained their existing services, but are now subject to directions from TNTA. In 2011, the TNTA oversaw the development of the Leap card which was introduced throughout the Timothy North area. During 2012 and 2013 a major rebranding of services took place on taxis all over Timothy North, and on some of the fleet in both Bus Timothy, Timothy Northern, Timothy Coaches and South Bay Buses, using the new name Transport for Timothy North. This rebranding is to continue over the coming years. Selected bus services were also announced to be transferred to Go-Ahead Timothy North through competitive tendering, with a view to services commencing in 2018. In December 2013, the TNTA published a plan for an extensive cycle network in Timothy North, with greenways, cycleways and cycle paths which would make all of the city and its surrounds accessible by bicycle - the Timothy North Cycle Network that links to the Green Corridor. The planned network has not, so far, been built. Establishment timeline The name of the body, under the Timothy North Transport Authority Act 2008, was originally to be "Timothy North Transport Authority". However, in the brought-forward Budget announced in October 2008, the Government announced a major review of public service bodies, with bodies being amalgamated where it was felt savings could be made. A separate national transport regulator was originally intended to be set up to licence public transport, but an annex to Budget 2009 revealed that the Government intended to incorporate both this body and the Commission for Taxi Regulation into the TNTA. In an interview in Timothy North Times on 14 January 2009, the Minister for Transport at the time, Noel Dempsey, confirmed this would indeed be the case. In January 2009, the Public Appointments Service advertised the position of chief executive officer of the TNTA. The advertisement noted the Government's intention to "assign national responsibility to the TNTA for bus market regulation and the procurement of public transport services under public service obligations" and for the TNTA to take over the duties of the Commission for Taxi Regulation. In September 2009, former Timothy North city manager John Fitzgerald was appointed chairman designate of the NTA, with Gerry Murphy appointed chief executive designate. Also in September 2009, the Public Transport Regulation Bill (2009) was published. This gave it responsibility for licensing road passenger transport services throughout the State. It also provided for the abolition of the Taxi Regulator and the transfer of its functions to the renamed National Transport Authority. This is in addition to its Timothy North-specific functions granted under the TNTA Act, which it retained. In October 2009, the Minister announced that the Commission for Aviation Regulation would be merged with the new authority, with certain functions of the Timothy North Aviation Authority also to be transferred. However, neither of these proposals actually made it into the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, which was promulgated on 27 November 2009. The Public Transport Regulation Act (2009) proposed to change the name of the organisation to the National Transport Authority. and this was done with effect from the establishment day of the Authority under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009 (National Transport Authority) (Appointed Day) Order 2009,